Giovanni Battista Spinelli Active in Naples circa 1630 - circa 1647

Barberini collection, Naples.

N. Spinosa, La pittura napoletana del '600, Milan 1984, reproduced fig. 784.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The original canvas is lined and the paint surface is stable but raised. There are four restored canvas seams and a 5cm wide restored central vertical damage . Extensive shrinkage of the paint film has resulted in a filigree of pale cracking over the surface. e.g. the still life on the table , right. The red cloth and curtain have been significantly retouched as have losses to Esther's face and chest. The helmeted faces in the background are thin and have been augmented. The varnish is very discoloured and degraded."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Spinelli is thought to have been a pupil of Massimo Stanzione's in Naples, and Bernardo De' Dominici included a short biography of the artist as an appendix to Stanzione's own Vita. If one is to believe the biographer's account, the two artists' works were often confused: "Sicché lo stesso Massimo ne restava ammirato, e tanto lo invitò nella tinta, che spesso i suoi quadri si prendeano per opera del Maestro".¹  The early provenance of the present work is unknown but, given its large dimensions, it seems reasonable to assume that it was painted for a private person's palazzo. Indeed De' Dominici states that Spinelli received numerous private commissions; "per case particolari, e per lo più de' nobili", being himself of noble extraction ("della nobilissima Famiglia Spinelli").

1.  B. De' Dominici, Vite de' Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti Napoletani, Naples 1742, p. 69.